Garment hanger



June 1, 1954 G. MASSA ETAL 2,679,958

GARMENT HANGER.

Filed March 20, 1955 INVENTORS Gemkd Ma sa games Demom a. 4: E1 1111;. ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 1, 1954 OFFICE GARMENT HANGER Gerald Massa and James Demola, Staten Island, N. Y.

Application March 20, 1953, Serial No. 343,592

Claims. 1

Our invention relates generally to improvements in garment hangers and has reference particularly to a garment hanger which may be extended to accommodate wearing apparel of various weights and sizes.

An object of this invention is to provide a garment hanger, which embodies separate extensible arms carried by the hanger proper, and which allows the arms to be extended or retracted to any desired degree, and provides means for holding each arm in any of its adjusted positions.

A further object of the present invention is to utilize a light plastic material as the substance from which to construct a hanger of this character, and thereby benefit from the sturdy qualities of such material to afford adequate support for almost any weight of garment.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel means of mounting the extensible arms upon the body of the hanger, whereby the arms are separately and readily adjustable and securely held in any of their relative positions.

- We accomplish these and other objects of this invention by means of the novel features of construction and combination of parts, described in the following specifications, set forth in the appended claims and illustratively exemplified in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a front elevaional view of my improved garment hanger showing the extensible arms in retracted position;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of one end or wing portion of the hanger showing an arm in extended position as indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a substantially transverse sectional view taken on lines 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged front elevational view of one side or wing portion of the hanger, illustrating the extensible arm in projected position.

Referring now to the details of construction, I!) denotes a garment hanger molded or stamped in a single piece of plastic or other suitable material, comprising a substantially triangular shaped frame consisting of an arched upper portion ll of fiat cross section forming a pair of straight-edged wings and having an upright hook l2 projecting from the apex of the arch, and a connecting bar [3 running between the outer ends of the wings of the arched portion H to form the base of the triangular member. This construction is in common use in the field of garment hangers.

According to the present invention, the arms or wings of the arched portion are used to support the extensible straight-edged arms 14, which are fiat lengths of material, the same or similar to that of which the hanger proper is made, and which are designed to lie fiat against one face of the arched portion H, as illustratively exemplified in Figs. 2 and 3.

The arms l4 are symmetrically identical, and each is provided with an elongated smooth sided rectilinear slot [5 extending from what may be termed its inner end and closely adjacent the apex and parallel to the straight-edged upper side thereof, to a point substantially midway of the length of the arm itself. A second slot i6 is arranged in each arm I4 and consists of three arcuate shaped openings l'l arranged in spaced succession beginning near the outer end of the slot i5 and disposed adjacent the mid portion of the arm and ending at the outer end of the latter, the arc of each portion H of slot l6 being disposed downwardly and towards the outer end of the arm to open into the midportion of the forward portion ll of the next arc, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, the outermost are I! terminating in an upturned closed end 18 at an elevation corresponding to that of each of the inner closed ends ISXOIE the arcuate portions H. A guide button or peg I9 is mounted in each arm or wing of the arched portion ll of the hanger l0 adjacent the bottom side and approximately midway the length of the said wing. The button or peg [9 projects through the slot 15 and is provided with a head 20 to prevent the extensible arm from separating from the adjacent wing of the arched portion li, while allowing the arm to move parallel thereto while permitting pivotal movement of the arm l4 about the peg H). A second button or peg 2| is mounted adjacent the outer end of the wing of the arched portion H and in the vicinity of the upper corner thereof to project through the slot 16 and to prevent removal of the arm M by means of a head portion 22. The pegs I9 and 2| are permanently secured in the hanger wings by means of cement or other fastening means.

According to this construction, each arm I4 is independently adjustable to an extended position by swinging the arm upwardly about the pivot peg l9 until the peg 2! is in the lower portion of an arcuate opening I! at which position the arm l4 may be freely extended beyond the end of the adjacent wing of the arched portion H of the hanger Hi. When the proper position is reached and the arm I4 is swung downwardly over the portion II, the peg I!) will be at some point intermediate the ends of slot l5 and the peg 2| will have seated against the upper closed end of one of the arcuate openings ll' constituting slot IE. Thus the arm i4 is held against outward movement by the position of the peg 19 in the upper closed end of the opening I! and against rotary movement about peg H by the peg I9 in the slot 15, the arm [4 being held against the corresponding wing or arm of the hanger by the heads 20 and 22 of the pegs which overlap the sides of the slots l5 and Hi. In a similar manner each arm M may be returned to its initial position as illustrated in Fig. l.

It should be noted that the weight of eachof the arms 14 tends to pivot the arm about peg (9 in a direction to lock the arm by pressing the rounded end l8 of one of the arcuate slots [1 into engagement with the other peg 2!. This locking action will be enhanced by the weight of a garment supported on the hanger. Moreover, the direction of extension of the arms 14 is parallel to the straight-edged upper surfaces of the arched portions ll of the hanger and also to the straight-edged upper surfaces of the arms 14 whereby the straight-edged upper surfaces of the arched portion H and of the arms M are maintained substantially in alignment so that the slope of the shoulder portions of a garment supported by the hanger will always be maintained at the correct angle. Additionally, it should be noted that there are no gaps or irregularities in the upper surface of the hanger in any position of extension of the arms.

Having now described our invention in detail and the manner in which the same operates, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a garment hanger, the combination with a body portion comprising a triangular frame forming oppositely projecting wing portions, of arms adjustably associated with the wing portions to increase the effective length thereof, each arm having two longitudinally extending spaced slots formed therein, one thereof being an elongated rectilinear opening extending outwardly from the inner end portion of each arm, the other consisting of a plurality of successive upwardly extending arcuate openings communicating with each other at their lower ends to form a r continuous passage in the outer portion of each arm, and spaced pegs projecting from each wing portion to respectively enter said slots in each arm, whereby the latter may be moved transversely of the pegs by pivoting said arms about the pegs in the rectilinear openings and allowing the respective other pegs to seat in selected ar- 4 cuate openings to hold the arms fixedly longitudinally positioned with respect to said wings.

2. An adjustable arm for each wing portion of a garment hanger, as claimed in claim 1, in which each peg consists of a shank portion permanently mounted in the wing and a head portion overhanging the walls of the respective slots to allow longitudinal adjustment of the arms on the wing portionsbut holding the arms against separation from the latter.

3. An adjustable arm for each wing portion (if a garment hanger, as claimed in claim 2, in whicheach of the arcuate openings in the arms is formedwith an upwardly directed closed end portion curved to form a seat for the respective peg, and wherein the sides of the rectilinear slot m oth 4. A garment hanger of the class described, comprising: a central arched portion including a pair of laterally extending wing portions having straight-edged upper surfaces; a pair of symmetrically arrangeable extensible arms having straight-edged upper surfaces parallel to said straight-edged upper surfaces of each of said wings having an elongated rectilinear slot formed therein and extending parallel to said straightedged surface of said arm outwardly from the inner end portion of each arm and a plurality of upwardly extending arcuate slots formed therein outwardly of each rectilinear slot, each arcuate slot terminating in an upwardly directed closed end portion, the lower ends of said arcuate slots intercommum'cating with each other to form a continuous passage in the outer portion of each arm; a first pair of pegs carried by said wings and movably engaging said rectilinear slots; and a second pair of pegs carried by said Wings and positioned outwardly with respect to said first pair of pegs, said second pair of pegs being movable in said arcuate slots, whereby said arms may be extended outwardly and fixedly positioned against outward movement with said second pegs in engagement with any desired ones (if said closed slot end portions.

5. A hanger according to claim 4; wherein said pegs and said slots are so positioned that said straight-edged portions of said wings and said slots are maintained substantially in alignment in all fixed positions of adjustment of said arifis.

References Cited in the file or this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date.

24199 71} Kus her et al. Jan. 17, 1950 2,589,374 Hannon Mar. 18, 1952 

